Bruins Recap: OT goal lifts Boston past Ottawa

Published On March 1, 2013 | By Meghan Riggs

Final Score: Boston Bruins 2, Ottawa Senators 1 (OT)

The Boston Bruins (13-2-2) ended the Ottawa Senators (12-6-3) five-game winning streak with a 2-1 overtime win on Thursday night at the TD Garden. The B’s extended their own winning streak to five games and secured possession of second place in the Northeast Division.

Despite the win, the Bruins did not play the game the team usually plays. They didn’t have their legs and they didn’t win as many battles as they wanted. The Bruins put 46 pucks on Robin Lehner, but they didn’t have many quality scoring chances. They did, however, make the necessary plays to secure the win.

Nathan Horton and Patrice Bergeron scored for the Bruins and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves.

 Highlights:

– Bergeron’s overtime goal was initially waved off and the play went under review. Bergeron deflected a shot from the left circle that broke off Ottawa goalie Lehner and trickled across the goal line. The crowd roared, the light went on, but the referee behind the net waved it off. After a review, replays clearly showed the puck slid across when Lehner reached back and knocked it into the net before pulling it back out.

– The Bruins finally gave up a power-play goal after killing off 27 straight. Jim O’Brien’s power-play tally in the second period was the first power-play goal the Bruins allowed since Feb. 6 in a 2-1 win at Montreal. This was the Bruins’ longest streak since March 2007 when they killed 28 straight. The B’s still lead the league in penalty-kill percentage with a kill rate of 93.9 percent.

Players of the Game:

Nathan Horton Last Thursday at Tampa Bay, Nathan Horton scored two goals to help his team to a 4-2 win. A week later, Horton lit the lamp in the second period for his seventh goal of the season. Horton has three goals and an assist in his past four games, and he continues to have a solid comeback from his past two concussion-plagued seasons.

Patrice Bergeron is an all-around gritty player and he was in the right place at the right time to tip in the game-winner. Bergeron has a goal and two assists in his past two games, and four goals and 10 assists on the season.

Tukka Rask was excellent once again as he won his fifth straight start. Two of the biggest saves came in overtime as Rask made two huge stops on an Ottawa power-play early in the extra frame.

Quote of the Game:

“We didn’t have our A-game tonight,” said coach Claude Julien. “A lot of it was because I didn’t think we skated as well as we’re used to skating. We were second on the puck on a lot of occasions. It made it a little bit tougher for us to come up with a win. Again, you’ve got to give your guys credit for battling through it and finding ways.”

Looking Ahead:

The Bruins will be back in action on Saturday when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning (9-10-1) at the TD Garden.  The puck will drop at 1:00 p.m. This is the second of three games the two teams will meet this season. Boston defeated Tampa Bay 4-2 on Feb. 21.

 

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About The Author

Meghan is a junior at Boston University majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in communications. She has been an athlete her whole life and is a member of the Women’s Ice Hockey team at BU. She is also a member of BUTV10’s sports talk show, Off Sides.